June 04, 2018

Why do we use the word RETURNS for Income tax details ?

The answer lies in the situation prevailing in British India in 1860 when Income Tax was first introduced in India.

Before the Revolt of 1857 , East India Company officials were most corrupt.

In the Reforms introduced by the British Crown administration every British official RETURNING to England had to submit details of the property he had acquired during his stay in India ( Hence , the word RETURN ) Robert Clive , Warren Hastings had acquired millions by looting Indians ( Back in England , they were derisively called "NABOBS `) "

Rs.5 Coin - 150 Years of Income Tax - Very Strange Legend Glorifying British Rule

This Rs. 5 Coin carries a very bizarre legend which states" 150 YEARS OF BUILDING INDIA "

This is very strange as from 1860 ( when Income Tax was first introduced by the British Colonial Masters ) till 1947 India was an enslaved country. How could British be BUILDING INDIA ( from 1860 to 1947 ). The British were , in fact LOOTING INDIA.

Income Tax was , in fact , introduced by the British to compensate the British Govt. for the massive expenses incurred by them for suppressing , most brutally the Revolt ( First War of Independence ) of 1857 ( SURELY NOT BUILDING INDIA - as the Coin states )

Why is there an image of the great Mauryan Philosopher , Chanakya on this coin ?What has the great Chanakya got to do with 150 years of Income Tax ? Chanakya would have advised kicking out the British.

There has been a demand that this Coin be withdrawn from circulation as it insults the Indian Freedom Struggle by glorifying the British Rule ( who surely were not BUILDING INDIA )
-------------

What the coin depicts - On the right side a bust of Chankya -,on the left a Lotus flower and a honey bee collecting nectar on the top of the flower -----Ideally, governments should collect taxes like a honeybee, which sucks just the right amount of honey from the flower so that both can survive-Chanakya's famous quotation.